A safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment is an essential ingredient for realising the right to water

In Geneva today, as the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to water and sanitation presented his final reports to the UN Human Rights Council, GI-ESCR took the floor to draw attention to the inherent link between a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment and enjoyment of the right to water.

In an oral statement, GI-ESCR reminded States that a significant barrier to the realisation of the right to water is environmental degradation and pollution. Therefore, protection of the environment, including action to address climate change, is necessary to ensure maximum accessibility, quality and safety of drinking water.

We highlighted the civil society and Indigenous Peoples Call to States to recognise the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Endorsed by over 900 organisations from all regions of the world and from a broad range of groups, the Call points out that the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat are all dependent on healthy, diverse and functioning ecosystems. It urges States to move swiftly to guarantee people’s right to a healthy environment through formal recognition in human rights law.

Recognition of the right to a healthy environment would be an important step towards full implementation of States’ obligations to realise the right to water.

The Call for recognition of the right to a healthy environment is HERE

Contact:

Lucy McKernan

Geneva Representative

Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

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